After seven years of commuting on a second hand steel frame kitted out with ebay’s cheapest and stuff from the parts bin, I decided I fancied something nicer for the bike that I probably do more miles on than any other.

Tripster frame, 105 groupset, Avid BB7s, DT Swiss rims and spokes home built onto Deore disc hubs.

I went for the Tripster as it combines disc brakes with rack and mudguard mounts. The mounts are better thought out than most, but still a bit of a faff. I had to mount the rack on the inside of the dropouts, and then bend the mudguard stays around it:

The clearance at the seat stay bridge and the front fork is also too big for SKS mudguards, requiring some custom mounts:

The old bike:

That’s nice. I mean really, really nice in a proper, mature, practical way.

Pity about the bars mind.

Oh and I got my SKS mudguards on my DC19s without meccano. Dunno what the difference is, or if I’m just less in favour of such minimal tyre/mudguard clearance.

It’s nice.

Out of curiousity, why not proper drops?

That does look purposeful.

Thanks for the comments.

Bars are a personal preference – they put your hands in roughly the same position as riding on the hoods on drop bars, but in a much better position for the brakes which seems like a good compromise for riding in traffic. I’d scarcely use the drops, but if you do get stuck in a head wind putting your hands around the very ends of the bars and lying your forearms along the bars gets you nice and low.

druidh – interesting about the mudguards. SKS mudguard specs do seem to vary confusingly. These ones are different from the ones I bought for another bike just a few months ago even though I thought I bought the same thing. They’d be miles away from the wheels without the adapters.

I’m tempted by one of these, in a pretty similar build – any chance of weighing it up?

Nice. And I’m saying that sitting next to a semi built Salsa Vaya. 🙂

Mount the rack to the lower eyelets and mount the rack stays on the same bolts, will lower the rack nicely… not that it’ll make up for the hideousness of those bars.

Oh – with BB7s, you’ve got more than enough stopping power with your hands in the hoods of standard bar/shifter combo.

Didn’t realise that the bars were quite such a personal taste. 🙂

Stato – might take a go at doing as you say with the rack. Would be nice to get it a bit lower but not sure if it’ll go.

I’ll try to get it on some scales. Doesn’t feel hugely light, but I guess the rack, guards and discs all add up.

They’d be miles away from the wheels without the adapters.

…and?

Why mount the rack inside the dropouts? there’s usually enough give in them to squeeze them out.

Thats nice, i fancy one for commuting on.

I like that. Very purposeful.

Nice, should have one of these built up soon.
looks like a bit of fiddling to get the ‘guards in the right place. what are the adapters made from?
I might leave a bit of a gap though as mine get clogged at the slightest hint of mud, as theres a surprising amount on the roads in the winter.

…and?
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I always find that mudguards work best when you put them near the wheels. You’d also be unable to get even spacing around the wheel, as the stays aren’t long enough.

Why mount the rack inside the dropouts? there’s usually enough give in them to squeeze them out.

There isn’t enough flat area around the mounting hole on the outside of the dropout, so you can’t get the mounting holes lined up.

Adapters are made from 3mm black plastic (a couple of quid from ebay) as I had some left over from making the guides for my wheel truing stand.

I think the photos make the clearance look tighter than it is. My winter training bike with caliper brakes has much tighter clearance, and I’ve not had any trouble with that clogging.

I’d be interested to see it done without adapters. I did a test fit without and it was going to look pretty silly IMO.

pdw

Sorry I’m late to this – can’t post at work.

Great bike you’ve got there. I’d be interested to see a photo of how the rack, mudguard and brake fit together on the other side of the back end, if that isn’t being too cheeky.

And what size tyres have you fitted – what would be the widest actually fitted with mudguards that will go?

Cheers

Sure – I’ll try to grab a photo next time i’ve got a moment in the daylight, although the rack and mudguard are exactly the same as the drive side, and the brake sits between the chain stay and seat stay so is clear of both of them.

The tyres are 25mm. The guards I’ve got fitted are designed for up to 28mm, but there’s loads of room all round for bigger tyres and guards.

Cheers

*tries not to feel tempted. Fails*

Very distinctive lookin bar…..

do you bent the front mudguard rails too?? as i know the front sks rail is straight and ment to be fitted at the end of the fork, how can you fit that to dc 19?? I got a tripster too, and still lookin for a suitable mudguard.

cheers